If you work with researchers needing help identifying funding opportunities to support their projects and career development or if you are faced with a complex, multidisciplinary proposal or a solicitation that limits the number of applicants, the Research Acceleration Office (RAO) can provide assistance.

The CSU Research Acceleration Office was established in 2015 to provide research development services, which include:

• identifying and helping to create new funding opportunities to support major research initiatives at CSU,
• aligning CSU for competitive funding through partnership and alliance management,
• developing research teams to synergistically tackle big questions, and
• increasing the number of competitive proposals submitted to major extramural opportunities.

RAO services contribute to CSU’s overall research success and to individual researcher success by promoting CSU’s research portfolio and facilitating faculty development and participation in collaborative partnerships, both within and outside CSU.

Individualized services include:

• support in establishing and growing external research partnerships, collaborations, and consortia
• assistance with early career planning and development
• individualized research funding planning
• identification of external resources to support research activities
• proposal development workshops (e.g. NSF CAREER Program; Early Career Investigator Workshops)
• management of internal funding programs (e.g., Catalyst for Innovative Partnerships)
• proposal development support and project management of complex, multidisciplinary proposals
• coordination of peer and red team proposal reviews

RAO also manages the CSU Limited Submission Process, using the InfoReady Review portal (https://colostate.infoready4.com/) to ensure proposals with the highest probability of success represent CSU in these opportunities. RAO also uses the Limited Submission process to help identify future collaborative opportunities among applicants and to identify additional strategic funding opportunities for applicants.

For questions on RAO services, visit the RAO website.